Astronomers Just Spotted A Water Snow Line Around A Star For The First Time

A telescope just snagged the very first image of a water snow line drifting around a young star in space — and it could transform what we know about how planets form.

more…

CrazyNeutrino said:

Astronomers Just Spotted A Water Snow Line Around A Star For The First Time

A telescope just snagged the very first image of a water snow line drifting around a young star in space — and it could transform what we know about how planets form.

more…

“ If a forming planet is on the inside of the water snow line, where water shows up as gas, the resulting planet is rocky like Earth. Planets forming on the outside of the water snow line, where the water shows up as ice, eventually form into gas giants like Jupiter.”

This is true for our solar system where formation by cold accretion dominates. It does not hold for planetary systems where the planets form from collapsing gas clouds.

mollwollfumble said:

CrazyNeutrino said:

Astronomers Just Spotted A Water Snow Line Around A Star For The First Time

A telescope just snagged the very first image of a water snow line drifting around a young star in space — and it could transform what we know about how planets form.

more…

“ If a forming planet is on the inside of the water snow line, where water shows up as gas, the resulting planet is rocky like Earth. Planets forming on the outside of the water snow line, where the water shows up as ice, eventually form into gas giants like Jupiter.”

This is true for our solar system where formation by cold accretion dominates. It does not hold for planetary systems where the planets form from collapsing gas clouds.

I wonder what sort of a time frame the two different methods take and which is more common